Meatball machine



4, 1970 G. K. TAHMESIAN ET AL 3,522,624

MEATBALL MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1967 i I l I I mk M N/ s 5 0 TE My .g Kg

QW a? Q g- 4, 1970 5. K. TAHMESIAN ET AL 3,522,624

MEATBALL MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 31, 1967 MW 3 S 5 e M 2 H 7 WW 2 w q z United States Patent 3,522,624 MEATBALL MACHINE Gary K. Tahmesian and Richard H. Tahmesian, both of 448 Windsor Road, Wood-Ridge, NJ. 07075 Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No. 657,401 Int. Cl. A22c 7/00 US. Cl. 17-32 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine for forming meatballs employing upper and lower hemispherical chambers which are brought together to form a spherical meatball, the machine incorporating mechanism for an operator to operate the machine by manipulating a pair of handles, and the machine dispensing the formed meatball from the hemispherical chambers.

This invention relates to machines for producing meat patties or meatballs.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a machine for manufacturing meatballs for commercial production, and wherein the meatballs are all uniform in contour, size and character.

Yet another object is to provide a meatball machine wherein one or a large number of meatballs may be simultaneously formed at every one cycle of the machine operation.

Other objects are to provide a meatball machine which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use and efi'icient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the machine,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation View thereof,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the invention, taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional View taken on line 44 to cam brackets 34-, shaft 33, cam 32 and cam shaft 31 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a removable head that represents a modified form of the invention wherein a meatball of different size may be formed,

FIG. 7 is a similar view of a different size of removable head.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a further modified construction wherein there is a rotatable chuck with different size heads, and

FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 8 shown partly in cross section.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the reference numeral 10 represents a meatball machine according to the present invention wherein there is a base plate 11 upon which bearing blocks 12 are mounted, the blocks supporting a lower frame 13 carrying upward extending roundways 14, having an upper frame 15 at their upper end, the frame 15 having side bearing blocks 16 supporting upper plunger cam shaft 17 carrying upper cams 18 that bear against cam followers 19 mounted pivotally free in brackets 20 on the upper side of upper plunger junction plate 21. A plurality of upper plunger junction plate vertical motion runners 22 extend downward from plate 21 each having a compression coil spring 23 between the underside of plate 21 and upper side of a removable upper meatball tray assembly 24, carried in frame 15.

Below the tray assembly 24 there is a downwardly exice tending upper meatball forming die 25 that is removable. An upper plunger 26 secured at its upper end in the plate 21 extends downward within die 25. The die 25 has an upper hemispherical meatball forming chamber 27.

The upper plunger camshaft 17 carries pulley 28 (see FIG. 2) driven 'by endless drive 29 (see FIG. 2) powered by sprocket 30 on high rise cam shaft 31 supported in bearing blocks 12. A pair of high rise earns 32 on cam shaft 31 bear against cam followers 33 carried pivotally free in brackets 34 on the underside of a support channel 76, which is mounted on the underside of the plate 55. Upward extending lower plunger junction plate vertical motion runners 36 from the lower plunger junction plate carry compression springs 37 between the underside of the junction plate 35 and underside of a removable lower meatball forming chamber tray assembly 38. The tray assembly 38 is mounted removably on plate 55 along inclined surfaces in wedgelike manner (see dotted lines on FIGS. 1 and 2 indicating the interface between plate 55 and tray assembly 38). A lower plunger 39 is carried by junction plate 35. A lower hemispherical meatball forming chamber 40 is in chamber tray assembly 38.

A removable chopped meat chamber assembly 41 is provided with upper and lower sliding doors 42 and 43 respectively. Openings 44 and 45 are provided through the upper and lower sides of the chamber 41 to provide access for the meatball forming chambers 27 and 40. The doors 42 and 43 are used as mova'ble closures for the openings 44 and 45. Doors 42 and 43 slide in grooves in the side walls of assembly 41 as seen in FIG. 1.

A pair of sprockets 46 on cam shaft 31 are connected by endless chain 47 to sprockets 48 on a handle shaft 49 having handles 50, on handle shafts 51 pivotable between forward motion limit stop 52 and reverse motion limit stop 53.

It will be noted that vertical motion carriages 54 are provided on a plate 55 and slidable on roundways 14,

the plate 55 carrying the removable lower chamber tray assembly 38.

In operative use, the meatball machine is operated in the following procedure. With the machine at rest, the operator removes the mixed, chopped meat chamber assembly 41 from the removable lower meatball forming tray assembly 38 mounted removably on the vertical motion carriage of the meatball making machine. The operator then places the two meat chamber sliding doors 42 and 43 into their closed positions on the mixed, chopped meat chamber assembly 41. The front side of the chamber assembly hinges outward to enable the operator to pack it with mixed, chopped meat. Thus the mixed, chopped meat chamber assembly has been prepared for packing with the desired recipe of mixed, chopped meat.

The operator thus packs the meat into the meat chamber assembly, then closes and locks its outwardly hinged front door. The meat chamber assembly is then reinstalled upon the tray assembly 38. Then the operator slides the doors 42 and 43 to the open position. The operator is now ready to make meat balls.

With his two hands, one on each handle, the omrator rotates the handle shaft of the machine in a forwardly direction as far as it will go, this occuring when it strikes the forward motion limit stop. Thus the vertical motion carriage of the machine ascends on its roundways by means of the action of the high-rise cams on the highrise camshaft, which is linked to the handle shaft by two positive chain and sprocket drives, as shown in the drawing. As the vertical motion carriage reaches its upper limit, and the upper mean ball forming chamber passes through the opening 44 to engage the meat in the chamber 41 to compress it into a partially spherical shape and to force said meat towards the lower hemisphere 40. When the vertical motion carriage has reached its maximum upper position and likewise the operators handle shaft has reached its forward motion limit stop, the upper and lower hemispherical meat ball forming chambers unite to form a sperical meatball therewithin.

With his two hands, one on each handle, the operator now rotates the handle shaft of the machine backwardly in a reverse direction, as far as it will go, this being when it strikes the reverse motion limit stop. The Vertical motion carriage now descends on its roundways by means of the same action above described, for the ascent thereof. As the vertical motion carriage starts to descend, and the upper and lower hemispherical chamber begin to part, the upper plunger junction plate is forced downward against the upward action of the compression springs, via means of the action of the upper cams mounted on the upper plunger cam shaft, which is linked to the high rise cam shaft by a positive chain and sprocket drive. The upper plunger affixed to the upper plunger junction plate, is likewise downwardly forced. This action pushes the formed meatball out of the upper chamber, thus preventing it from sticking to the upper chamber surface. When the vertical motion carriage has descended to its full lower position, the operators handle shaft has reached its reverse motion limit stop.

The operator now removes the lower chamber tray assembly 38 from the vertical motion carriage, and then removes the meat chamber assembly 41 from the lower tray assembly 38. This action exposes the formed meatball resting in the lower chamber, for removal. Also the meat chamber assembly may now be repacked with the mixed, chopped meat for the next repeated cycle of operation of the machine.

The operator now turns the lower chamber tray assembly upside down and while in this position forces the lower plunger junction plate down, against the upward action of the compression springs against the under surface of the chamber tray assembly. This action causes the lower plunger, permanently affixed to the lower plunger junction plate to be forced downward against the under surface of the meatball, thus pushing it out of the lower chamber.

With the meatball thus removed, the operator now replaces the lower chamber tray assembly on to the vertical motion carriage of the machine. He then repacks the mixed, chopped meat chamber assembly to again repeat the above described cycle of operation. The operator is now ready to proceed.

In FIG. 6 a modified construction of the invention is shown wherein there is a removable head 60 that has an enlarged ball forming chamber 27 that is interchangable with a head 61, shown in FIG. 7, that has a smaller ball forming chamber 27. Both heads have external threads 62. of a same size that is securable within an internally threaded extension 63 of the machine. This construction is of course to be adapted for both upper and lower ball forming chambers. The assembly 41 may or may not be required to have openings 44 of different sizes interchangable to suit the heads. Thus difierent sizes of meatballs may be selectively produced on the machine.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 a further modified construction is shown wherein interchangeable heads 70, 71, 72 are all secured to the machine mstead of forming separate,

removable elements as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the present form of the invention, a rotatable chuck 73 is mounted rotatably free on an extension 74 of the machine. The extension 74 is the equivalent of die 25. The chuck carries the heads '70, 71, and 72 integrally formed thereupon; each head extending in a radial direction 120 degrees apart. One of the heads forms smaller meatballs, another head 71 forms medium size meatballs and another head 72 forms larger meatballs. The chuck is rotated so that the proper head is brought into vertical alignment with a corresponding head that forms the other one-half of the meatball. The chuck is locked in position by a screw 75 and the device is ready for use. It will be noted that an appropriate plunger 26 may be designed to suit this construction, such plunger being possibly activated by pneumatic means or by a flexible shaft or other equivalent construction.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it is understood that such changes will be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A meatball forming machine comprising a chamber for storing meat during the forming process, said chamher having opposed spaced aligned openings and movable closures for said openings, a pair of similar concave meatball forming upper and lower molds exteriorally positioned relative to the chamber and axially aligned with said openings, means for moving said molds towards each other and through said openings and in molding engagement in said chamber and for returning said molds to their original exterior position.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said means include a lower vertically movable platform, said chamber having opposed spaced aligned openings and movable platform being movable vertically towards said upper mold, the said lower mold being mounted for limited vertical motion on the platform including a second means for moving the lower mold relative to the platform and into the chamber, further including a fixed member upon which the said upper mold is mounted for limited vertical motion with means, a third means for moving said upper mold relative to the fixed member towards and away from the lower mold within the said chamber.

3. A machine as defined in claim 2 in further combination with a fourth means for synchronizing the said three means to cause the said molds to engage within the chamber to form a curvate meatball.

4. A machine as in claim 3 wherein the third said means include a cam, a cam follower and a plunger wherein the cam engages the cam follower which in turn engages the plunger and causes the plunger to move the upper mold towards the lower mold after the meatball has been formed and the lower mold is moving away from the upper mold.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 756,639 4/ 1904 Hutchison. 2,949,629 8/1960 Falco 17-32 3,122,869 3/1964 Miller et al. 17-32 X 3,245,106 4/1966 Alderdice 17--32 3,292,207 12/1966 Herrick l7-32 3,105,270 10/1963 Fibish 18-19 LUCIE H. LAUDENSLAGER, Primary Examiner 

